De Beers to acquire stake in Russian diamond deposit

RIA Novosti Moscow, April 16 (RIA Novosti) Diamond multinational De Beers will acquire a large stake from Russian oil giant LUKoil in one of Europe’s biggest diamond mines, LUKoil’s press office said. LUKoil and De Beers here Tuesday signed an agreement on the ownership and development of the Verkhotina diamond project located in the Arkhangelsk region in Russia’s northwest.

Under the agreement, Archangel Diamond Corporation (ADC), a Canadian-based subsidiary of De Beers, will acquire up to 49.99 percent shares held by LUKoil in the Arkhangelskoye Geologodobychnoye Predpriyatiye (AGD), a company currently wholly owned by the Russian oil company and licensed to develop the Verkhotina diamond field.

LUKoil will retain the remaining controlling stake in the project.

Once the deal is completed, litigation and arbitration proceedings related to the ownership of the license to develop the Verkhotina diamond field, which was discovered in 1996 by an exploration venture set up by ADC and AGD, will be terminated, LUKoil said in a statement. RIA Novosti